St. Landry democrat., 1887-12-10
copyrighted. l897.l

greater portion OF SOuln"tStcll Ndllo''o ill9
stamping ground. Unaccompanied by rela-
tiveS, partners or intimates, he drltted here
and there, as his whims or the supply OF game
dictated Little was known Of him except
that his dialect indicated that he was ma
tive of Hoosierdom.
The time of his arrival in the region in
which he earned his rather unsavOry nick
name cannot be determined. He turned
up either in 1869, 20 or II, and that is all
that can be learned of his coming. Num-
bered among his several peculiarites was his
desire and ability to make rets of skunks,
his aversion for water externally applied
and his frugaIity in the matter Of raimelt,
which he persisted in wearing without
change till accident or time removed it for
him. Although scarcely beyond middle age,
his head was phenOmenally bald. This,
coupled with the fact that the major
portion of his face was covered with
short, matted beard like piece
of buffalo robe gave his head some
what the appearance of being inverted.
Though gOOdnatured and civil, he abhOrred
human companionship and would go to
almost any length to avoid it. So great was
his aversion for women, that at one time he
ceased to trap anywhere along the entire
length of Soldier creek because in a cabin
on one of its branches lived a woman who
stared curiously at him the only time he
passed that way.
Although he hunted and trapped all varle-
ties of game that came in his way, sktnks
were his tavorite victims. He shot and
trapped surprising number of these Odor-
IL 81; +bnir TO
St. Louis where a certain dealer in furs paid
him considerable sums for cOnsgnments OF
these peIts. Every now and then he kept
alive what he considered the handsomest and
most sprightly of lot of skunks and made a
pet Of it.
AS his accumulation of pets grew larger,
he finally decided that, of all the country
over which he had ranged the then just
organized county of Pratt was most adapted
to his needs. So in the high bluff near the
head of Minnesota creek, he excavated an
artificial cave and took up his abode therein.
The entrance q hole in the bluff, only
trif1e larger than was necessary to admit
mans body, led into two well-tinished rooms
dug out of the solid clay. One was his sleep
ing apartment. and the other his kitchen,
wall of clay, two feet thick and were con-
nected by hole four feet high.
Johnson exhibited considerable skill as
clay carver and expended much time IN
decorating the clay walls of his habitation
At one side was fireplace, both handsome
and practical, and above it was carved
mantelpiece. A bench-like shelf had hol-
low for the reception of his water-bucket,
and there was a neat candlestck, carved
from a projection in the wall. A niche cut
in the wall served as bookcase, and in 1t
repOsed a volume or two that Johnson had
picked up somewhere but which he seldom
or never perused. There were inches and
shelves for the reception of other articles,
and, at one side Of the combined kitchen and
work-room was large hole, carved out of
the wall and barred by sticks of native lead,
which he had obtained at the undeveloped
mines, further south, melted and beaten into
bars. Here were Gagged his pets when they
became too troublesome under foot.
The cave was ventilated by spiral Chin
ney which led from the fireplace to the top
of the bluff. This same spiral chimney at
terward proved its owners salvation. Settlers
at that time were not numerous IN the
county, and Johnson was not troubled by
many visitors. Those who did come seldom
remained long IN the vicinity. Between
Johnson's taciturnity and a certain pecu
liarity of the skunks the visitor generally
came to the speedy conclusion that his pres
ence was not wholly welcome, and proceeded
to seek more genial locality.
Some distance down the creek, Johnson
established what he called his bone-yard.
Here he piled the carcasses of the animals he
killed. In course of time the accumulation
of bones, large and small, amounted to sew
eral wagon loads. Some time after Johnson's
departure from the region, these bones were
all gathered up by an enterprising bone
hunter and shipped East, and have long |
since done their duty as fertilizers.
In the fall of 1874, band Of Indians went |
on raid through the county. Much blood |
shed would undoubtedly have followed had |
not the savages devoted 50 much time and |
attention to Skunk Johnson that they |
gave the settlers ample time to arm them
selves and prepare to resist the attack Of the
red men.
Several miles from his cave Johnson discov-
cred number of Indians breaking up a large
cage trap that he had set for timber wolves.
He promptly shot one Of the trap breakers
and fed, followed by the rest of the band,
which consisted of some twenty or more full
grown Indians in all the bravery of war
paint and feathers.
Several shots were exchanged. An Indian
or two fell, but Johnson was not touched
and being an excellent runner he gained the
shelter of his cave and barricaded the en-
trance.
For fifteen days the savages besieged
skunk Johnson's cave, and during that
time he succeeded in killing or wounding
nearly half of their number, himself escap-
ing without scratch.
Whenever an Indian appeared anywhere
in range of the front of the cave, Johnson
speedily made target of him, and, as the
hunter was an unerring shot, he was not
often attacked in that direction. They tried
to burn his barricade, and one was killed
and another wounded for their pains. They
to smoke him out by building a
fire over the top of the spiral chimney, and
Johnson got his fresh air from the doorway.
Then when the fire had nearly gone out,
and the Indians were sitting about the Goals,
a new scheme, Johnson crawled
m the Snira1 chimney and shot two of them |